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BERLIN (ANA) An announcement here on Friday, by none other than the
visiting Greek prime minister himself, that several prized ancient
foundations will be returned to Greece from the renowned Pergamus
Museum could constitute a symbolic message to the British Museum and
its standing refusal to repatriate the spectacular ?Parthenon
Marbles?.

Greek PM Costas Simitis said an agreement by Berlins Archaeological
Museum and Greeces culture ministry will return portions of the
?Philippeion? one of the structures at the historic site of Olympia,
the home of the Olympic Games during antiquity.

In reciprocation, a major exhibition of Classical-era antiquities and
artifacts from Olympia will be organised in the German capital next
year.

The foundations were legally shipped to Germany and the Pergamus Museum
in 1892 as part of Greek-German agreement 17 years earlier that foresaw
excavations in Olympia.

On his part, Simitis called the agreement a ?model? for cultural
exchanges between countries, while he thanked the German Archaeological
Institute for its financial support in restoring the Philippeion a
structure built at Olympia during the Macedonian dynasty period.

?This project assumes even greater importance in light of the 2004
Olympic Games in Athens,? he said following a brief ceremony and after
touring the Berlin museum.

BERLIN (ANA) The violence in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
(FYROM) was as the centre of talks here on Thursday evening between
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and visiting Greek Premier Costas
Simitis.

Simitis arrived in the German capital for a private visit on Thursday
that, however, includes several high-level contacts with the countrys
leadership.

The Greek prime minister added that his talks with Schroeder would
resume on Friday, as European Union affairs and especially Cyprus EU
accession course expected to dominate the agenda.

In terms of the troubling situation in FYROM, the Greek side briefed
Berlin over an initiative to lay down a timeframe for negotiations by
all sides in Skopje, aimed at finally defusing the crisis. The plan has
already been submitted to the European Union and will probably be
discussed during the upcoming summit in Goteborg.

Regarding the blocs expansion, Simitis said both sides agreed on
adhering to timetables worked out at the Nice summit, as long as
certain matters are first ?worked out?, just as ensuring regional
convergence.

Sunny weather is forecast for throughout Greece on Friday. Mostly
northerly winds, weak to moderate, on the mainland; strong at times in
parts of the Aegean. Temperatures between 12C-28C in the north, 15C-30C
in the rest of the mainland and 17C-27C on the islands. Sunny in
Athens, 16C-29C. The same for Thessaloniki, 14C-27C.